Dave Pear's Blog

FOX Sports‘ A.J. Perez and Alex Marvez kick off Super Bowl week with a scathing exposé on the inner workings of the NFL Alumni and its Executive Director, George Martin.
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One question we keep wondering about: Just exactly how many retired football player members does the NFL Alumni actually have? The one thing even the NFLPA manages to be transparent about is its membership roster and they even provide an online list for all to see. But George Martin and his management team continue to cite numbers in the thousands, claiming that their membership is the largest collective group of retired players. But this article cites around $80,000 collected from May through September 2011. At $100 per member, simple arithmetic tells you that’s 800 members. But when you factor in the $5,000 fees from the remaining chapters who may have sent in their dues during that same period, one has to wonder how much of that $80,000 actually comes from individual memberships? We’ve heard from all too many sources that the membership has dropped to below 500 actual dues-paying retired players, with the remaining members classified as “Associate Members” that include fans and other non-retirees. Heck, if the NFL has given the Alumni $4 million in interest-free loans since George Martin took over, maybe it might have been cheaper to just pay each of the estimated 15,000+ retired players (just one estimate) $100 apiece to be members of the Alumni?
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Football damaged my brain and it didn’t have to happen

GEORGE VISGER, a former 49er, tells his story
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Due to the size and speed of today’s football players, the kinetic energy they generate during hits can have long-term consequences. Here’s my story:
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My football career began at age 11 in 1970 when I suited up for the West Stockton Bear Cubs, the first Pee Wee Pop Warner team fielded in Stockton, Calif. Of the 29 kids on the team, three went on to sign NFL contracts in 1980 (myself — sixth round, New York Jets; Jack Cosgrove — eighth round, Seattle Seahawks; Pat Bowe — free agent, Green Bay Packers).
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During my third year of Pop Warner, I was hospitalized when I knocked myself unconscious during a tackling drill. The exercise was a needless bull-in-the-ring drill that was more of a gladiator competition for the coaches’ amusement than a means of teaching useful techniques to young players.
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The coaches had us form a big circle about 25 yards across and numbered the 40 of us 1 to 20 on each side. When your number was called, you and the player on the other side with the same number sprinted directly at each other and hit head-to-head.
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Concussions followed throughout my high school career, though I never missed a game or practice. In my senior year, we went 11-0 and ranked No. 3 in California. I was selected to the All-America Top 100 Team.
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I entered the University of Colorado on a football scholarship in 1976 as a 6-foot, 5-inch 235-pound defensive tackle, majoring in biology. I was a starter for three years and suffered a number of minor concussions, but I never missed a play except after leg injuries.
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Turning pro

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Posted with the express consent of Irv Muchnick from his blog Concussion Inc.:
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Published January 10th, 2012

Rep. Linda Sánchez

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Happy Holidays, Football and Sports Concussion Establishment: 2012 Is the Year of the Tobacco-Style Lawsuit

Posted with the express consent of Irv Muchnick from his blog Concussion Inc.:

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We’re sorry but we just couldn’t help it. Comparing recent news involving two big-name coaches like John Madden and Joe Paterno Last week, John Madden came forward like the great leader he is and declared that they would now be taking players out of the game when they get concussed. In the Electronic Arts video game that bears his name. Nice. Is that much different than the Wall of Silence that we’ve seen from coach Joe Paterno surrounding the juggernaut of charges still mounting against his BFF Jerry Sandusky that include child sex abuse and rape? Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, both of them continue to believe in the sanctity of football to protect those at the top from any accountability. It’s this arrogant air that finds the rest of us scratching our heads wondering what planet these people are living on.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave has been talking with Bette Schwager over the past few weeks about her treatment (or mistreatment) at the hands of the NFLPA and the Players Assistance Trust (PAT). We asked her to write the story in her own words so that our readers can understand just a little of the senseless treatment she and her family have been put through by the NFLPA and their so-called assistance programs this past year. Bette’s husband, Bruce, had played football at the Merchant Marine Academy before being drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in 1955. The Cardinals refused to take him off their reserve list even as he went in to service with the Navy from 1956 – 1958. So Bruce became another one of the pre-’93 players (pre-’72!) who was actually on the roster and vested with enough years but never granted vesting. You can read the full story from Alan Schwarz in his June 2011 New York Times article – click HERE. We’ve also posted a copy of the 2-page Release Letter that the NFLPA tried to get Bette to sign after Bruce passed away before he was to be evicted from his dementia care facility because the NFLPA stopped paying his bill. After you read Bette’s story and the Release Letter, you’ll understand why we’ve been cautioning everyone to be extremely careful of signing anything from these people without close scrutiny and advice. continue reading »

Over the past couple of weeks, absolutely nothing of any serious significance or substance out of the NFLPA regarding retired players pensions especially that new Legacy Fund, other than a lot of the same chest-thumping and empty rhetoric that everyone has been hearing since the lockout ended late this summer. It would certainly seem like the lawyers have taken over once again and put out that Say Nothing Memo.
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There was a meeting of the Seattle Chapter (probably much like other chapter meetings across the country) where the usual 8 members – out of approximately 48 NFLPA members listed in the Seattle area – showed up and voted on a few things that we’re sure will make a huge difference to all retirees: The meeting introduced some Business Opportunities (Hair Products!), the Touchdowns for Homes Programs, as well as some discussion on the School of Legends program. We also finally have some backhanded acknowledgment from the NFLPA HQ about loss of hearing from football (a shiny new discount hearing aid program!).
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Both the NFLPA and George Martin’s NFL Alumni have been trying to take credit for everything being offered to retired players from the new CBA. In the meanwhile, they’ve also done their best to ignore what retired players have actually been demanding long before this current CBA while never really putting their cards on the table about what it is that they’ve actually decided for retirees – without their direct input. The Union simply refused to be in the same room while discussions were being held directly with Commissioner Goodell and now they continue to play a let’s-wait-and-see attitude by blaming the League for holding up the final agreement. And they continue to take credit for the wonderful things they’ve done for retirees all while they weren’t a Union (during de-certification!).
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Meanwhile, back at the Alumni ranch, George Martin’s $250,000+ annual salary and bonuses are apparently not enough so he also had to do some endorsement work. George has been driving around in a brand-new $65,000+ Cadillac Platinum Edition Escalade ESV for the last week or so since the Alumni Golf Tournament tweeting all about his praises for his loaner wheels much to the delight of Government Motors. (Read the official NFL Alumni Press Release by clicking HERE.) FOX Sports’ Alex Marvez had a few more words to say about that ride:
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First the serious stuff: One more helmet concussion lawsuit filed in California by Hausfeld LLP and Pearson Simon Warshaw & Penny LLP, on behalf of Cedrick Hardman and Tommy Mason against the NFL, Riddell and Easton-Bell. The two Exhibits include proposals for medical monitoring and benefits after a career in football.
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And we’re not letting the NFLPA off the hook today either: Here’s another good reason for retired players to manage and administer their own benefits: Be sure to read about the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimburse lobby at the end of this post! Oh well – Another day, another $100,000!
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In our last post - click HERE if you’d like to read it again – we posted an exchange of e-mails from Bob Kuechenberg with questions on the current CBA, the Legacy Fund and benefits in general for retired players (particularly the pre-93ers). For weeks, those within the NFLPA have been stonewalling retirees with vague answers as well as pointing the finger at others to lay blame for lack of any clarity on what and how retired players will be receiving “new” benefits. One thing the PA has shown consistency with has always been, “We know what’s best for retired players and you’ll get what’s left AFTER we’ve already carved up the pie for the active players. And by the way – no one can talk about this stuff at local chapter meetings because it’s too negative and divisive!”
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What’s worse: The NFLPA was invited to the table for a real opportunity to sit down with the Commissioner and representatives of the retired players in September because “they were being sued by the retired players” so they couldn’t show up. Never mind that Nolan Harrison III and Jim McFarland were invited – AND attended – the first meeting and subsequent conference calls with the largest unified collective of retired players representatives to have ever assembled for one goal: To take charge of their own pension and disability benefits. And never mind that the non-Union (decertified) individuals and the League were also subsequently sued by retired players at that time. (EDITOR’S NOTE: To Jim McFarland’s credit, he’s been the only man on the inside who’s been speaking up on the real issues relevant to retired players but of course, no one seems to be listening to him and he has absolutely NO vote.)
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EDITOR’S NOTE: We just received an update from disability attorney John Hogan on another of his recent disability applications on behalf of another retired football player. He also included a copy of the Disability Board’s short 3-page boilerplate ruling.
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Attached is a recent decision I received from the Bell/Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan’s Disability Initial Claims Committee (DICC) finding that a former player was entitled to Inactive Benefits. (It was filed prior to Sept. 1st, so the new CBA rules do not apply and we are seeking Football Degenerative benefits.) continue reading »

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This first e-mail was just added on Saturday afternoon:
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Some reading material for your weekend. We have a recent newsletter from Hausfeld LLP and Zelle Hofmann that provides an update on much of what’s been happening with the retired players’ lawsuit as well as recent information and links of interest to football players and fans alike regarding concussions. They also provide some straight-forward analysis of the new CBA and how it will affect retirees’ benefits that you probably won’t be hearing from the NFLPA any time soon.
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And Sports Life Magazine’s Rick Kelsheimer spoke with us last month about Dave’s long battle with the NFL and the NFLPA and was gracious enough to provide us with an advance copy of his story that will appear in the October 2011 edition.
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We uploaded full copies of the newsletter and the Sports Life article to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to go Full Screen for easier reading (just hit the ESC key to close): continue reading »

EDITOR’S NOTE: George Visger caught up with me on the phone this morning just before arriving at a job site. George is back at work trying hard to help his family recover from losing their home after suffering another near-fatal brain shunt failure last October. George is one of the most remarkably intelligent and resilient guys I’ve ever met and his tenacity comes through in everything he does. I often talk to him about what might have happened with his life had he never played professional football and sustained his life-altering brain damage. He starts off with an answer to John Hogan’s earlier post (click HERE to read John Hogan’s comment).
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From TheUnion.com: George Visger, a Grass Valley resident, shows his 1981 San Francisco 49ers team photo and Super Bowl ring. Visger has undergone nine brain surgeries since he stepped off the football field for the final time.

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